Quiz Show III

Review — where we got to 5 min

Your quiz has lives and a pass mark. Nothing about how it WORKS changes today. Everything about how it FEELS does.

• switch backdrop to [Hall v], from Topic 1.4.
• start sound [Pop v], from the catching game.

Quick-fire

Two quizzes ask the same questions. One feels like a game show. What is the difference?

Today’s Topic 3 min

• The Stage listening for the same broadcasts the questions use
• A bright sound for right, a flat one for wrong
• A wrong answer that teaches something
• A hard question worth more than an easy one

Learning outcome

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

1. Change the backdrop when the round changes.
2. Play one sound when the player is right and another when they are wrong.
3. Give a question its own number of points.

Learnt — dressing the show 28 min

1 · A card behind every round

The Stage can have its own scripts. It cannot move or say anything, but it can change what is behind everybody.

1. Click the Stage, on the right, under the backdrops.
2. Choose two more backdrops. Chalkboard and Spotlight work well.
3. The block area is now the Stage’s, not a sprite’s. It is a shorter list.
4. Build when I receive [question 1 v] and switch backdrop to [Chalkboard v] under it.
5. Do the same for question 2 with a different backdrop.

when I receive [question 1 v]
switch backdrop to [Chalkboard v]
            

2 · The sound answers first

A player hears before they read. Give right and wrong a sound each and the show gets faster without a single word changing.

1. Click the host, then the Sound tab at the top left.
2. Click Choose a Sound and search for Collect. Add it.
3. Do the same for Buzz Whir.
4. Go back to the Code tab.
5. Put start sound [Collect v] at the top of the right branch, and start sound [Buzz Whir v] at the top of the wrong one.

if <(answer) = [Earth]> then
  start sound [Collect v]
  change [score v] by (1)
  say [Correct!] for (2) seconds
else
  start sound [Buzz Whir v]
  say [The answer was Earth.] for (3) seconds
end
            

Notice the wrong branch. It does not say “Wrong”. It says what the answer was. That is a hint, and it is the difference between a quiz that teaches and one that just marks.

3 · Some questions are harder than others

An easy question and a hard one are both worth one point. That is not fair, and fixing it takes one keystroke.

when I receive [question 2 v]
say [Hard one. Worth 3.] for (2) seconds
ask [How many minutes are in two hours?] and wait
if <(answer) = [120]> then
  start sound [Collect v]
  change [score v] by (3)
end
broadcast [result v]
            

Basic — dress your own show 25 min

Your quiz from last week. Three passes over it, testing after each one.

Step 1 — the cards

1. Add two more backdrops to the Stage.
2. Give the Stage a receive script for each question.
3. Add switch backdrop to [Theater v] on the green flag.
4. Play the whole show and watch the cards change.

Step 2 — the sounds

1. Add two sounds to the host: one bright, one flat.
2. Put the bright one at the top of every right branch.
3. Put the flat one at the top of every wrong branch.
4. Play with the volume up.

Step 3 — the hints

1. Read every one of your wrong branches.
2. Rewrite any that just say “Wrong”.
3. Each one should say what the right answer was, kindly.

Step 4 — the points

1. Decide which of your questions is the hardest.
2. Change its change [score v] by (1) to a bigger number.
3. Make the host announce what the round is worth before asking it.
4. Work out the highest score anybody could get, and fix your pass mark to match.

Step 5 — play it as an audience

1. Play your own show all the way through without stopping to fix anything.
2. Write down the one moment it felt slow.
3. Fix that one thing.

A card for every round

Every question in your quiz gets a backdrop of its own, chosen to suit what it is about.

• One backdrop per question, all different.
• Each one suits its question.
• The show starts and finishes on the same card every time.

A clue and a second go

On one question, a wrong answer should give a clue and let the player try once more, before the answer is given away.

• The clue helps without saying the answer.
• The player gets exactly one more try, not endless tries.
• A second wrong answer still costs a life.

A scoreboard nobody can argue with

Points a player did not know about are not points, they are a surprise. Make your show say what every round is worth before it asks.

• Every round announces its points before the question.
• The rounds are not all worth the same.
• The hardest round is worth the most.
• Your pass mark makes sense against the new highest score.

A speed bonus

Answer quickly and the question is worth double. Scratch has a stopwatch running all the time, and you can read it.

• The timer is reset the moment the question is asked.
• A fast, correct answer scores more than a slow, correct one.
• A wrong answer scores nothing however fast it was.
• The host says which kind of point the player just got.

when I receive [question 1 v]
reset timer
ask [How many legs has a spider?] and wait
if <(answer) = [8]> then
  if <(timer) < [5]> then
    change [score v] by (2)
    say [Fast! Double points.] for (2) seconds
  else
    change [score v] by (1)
    say [Correct. One point.] for (2) seconds
  end
end
broadcast [question 2 v]
            

Summary 4 min

No new idea today. The same quiz, dressed.

1. The Stage has scripts, and it can listen for the same broadcasts the sprites do.
2. A sound in each branch tells the player before the words do.
3. A wrong answer should leave the player knowing something.
4. A question is worth whatever number you type in, and you should say so first.

Stage script

Blocks on the Stage instead of a sprite. It can change backdrops and play sounds.

Start sound

Plays a sound and carries straight on. It does not wait.

Hint

What a wrong answer should give the player instead of the word “wrong”.

Timer

Scratch’s own stopwatch, in Sensing. Reset it to start counting from zero.

Next lesson: a button to start the show, a medal instead of a number, and a best score that survives the next player.